Photo by Bob Stern / The RepublicanThe new owners of the Pride & Joy store on Crafts Avenue in Northampton, stand in front of their establishment. They are, from left, Jeffrey L. Wheelock, Kelly M. Wagoner and Melissa N. Borchardt.

NORTHAMPTON - Pride & Joy, a landmark store in the gay community, will continue to operate under new ownership with both parts of its name in full use.

Three business partners from Orlando, Fla., Melissa N. Borchardt, Kelly M. Wagoner and Jeff L. Wheelock, bought the business sight-unseen and took it over from former owner Mark Carmien Friday. In fact, none of the three had even been to Northampton before they arrived at the tail-end of a snowstorm last week.

"I love the snow," said Borchardt, who was still getting the feel of the place on Monday.

The cold, slush and gloom couldn't dampen the excitement of the three entrepreneurs, all of whom worked as retail managers for supermarkets in sunny Florida.

"Kelly and I wanted to find some gay-friendly place up north," Borchardt said. "We found Northampton by word of mouth."

After researching the city and the store on-line, Borchardt, 25, Wagoner, 30, and Wheelock, 44, were sold on Pride & Joy. The store has been both a resource and a home base for the local gay community since it opened 17 years ago. Carmien, its third owner, ran it for the last six years.

"I put my heart and soul into the store," he said. "It's a little bittersweet, but mostly sweet."

Carmien, 46, is moving on to a full-time career in real estate, but still has a place for Pride & Joy in his heart.

"It's taken on a personality over the course of 17 years," he said.

The store offers a wide selection of books by and about the gay community, as well as videos, CD, clothes, bumper stickers and other merchandise that celebrate gay pride. Information about the annual Pride March and other community events flows through the store, and it also serves as a touchstone in times of crisis.

Borchardt said the atmosphere in Northampton is a world apart from Orlando, where the gay community usually gathers only for the annual Pride March there. The small town atmosphere reminds her of her native England, she said.

"I haven't met one person yet who hasn't been nice," she said.

The new owners plan to expand the children's and pet sections of the store and relaunch the Pride & Joy Web site so that people from out of town can purchase the store's gay-theme wares more easily.

"It's really hard to find quality stuff on-line, and we want to be that place," she said.

The store's loyal customers will not be disappointed, according to Borchardt.

"A lot of people are concerned that it's going to change or be something else," she said. "We assure them that we will be here for a long time. This is it."